Bearcats depart top 25 in newest D-II rankings

Northwest Missouri State's stay in the top 10 of Division II was brief.

After losing both games in Hawaii to unranked opponents, Northwest Missouri State tumbled from a No. 10 ranking to outside the top 25 in the newest NABC Division II Poll.

The Bearcats (8-2) received just four top 25 votes, placing them behind five other unranked teams.

They are the only team in this week's poll to drop out of the top 25.

Their exit leaves No. 8 Washburn as the lone ranked MIAA team.

Previously ranked second, the Ichabods (7-1) fell six spots after losing their first game of the year to Newman 86-69 Saturday.

Also from the Central Region, Minnesota St.-Mankato is ranked No. 21 and four other teams are below Northwest in the receiving votes category.

One of those is Harding who beat Northwest 68-66 Sunday night.

The Bearcats also lost to St. Edward's the night before.

West Liberty (8-0) held on to its No. 1 ranking and received 13 of 16 first-place votes. No. 2 Metro State (9-0), No. 3 Alabama-Huntsville (7-1) and No. 4 Bellarmine (8-0) each snagged one first-place vote.